Michael Frederick Jr. is facing multiple charges after being accused of racist attacks on a Black family in Warren, Michigan, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier this month, Eddie and Candace Hall told police that after putting up a Black Lives Matter sign in their window, someone shot bullets into their home, painted a swastika on one of their vehicles, slashed the tires and threw a large stone through their front window.
The person also wrote “terrorist Black Lives Matter” and “not welcome” on the family's car, the Associated Press reported on Sept. 11. Police later arrested Frederick Jr., who admitted to the racially motivated attacks.
“Right now, the Black lives are being [targeted.] We put the sign up because we matter, too. Hate brings no good to anyone. We hate no one. We live in a neighborhood that’s really diverse. We love our neighbors. Our neighbors love us. All of our neighbors surrounded us with encouragement and love,” Candace said.
“This guy went too far. You might not believe what I believe, but you went way too far. I forgive him for his acts of hate, but love always overcomes any type of hate,” she added.
In spite of the horrendous crimes he admitted to, Frederick Jr. asked for the Hall family to forgive him, saying his attacks on them were not about race.
“I’m extremely regretful of what I did. I can say it’s not like me. I acted way out of character. This wasn’t about the color of anyone’s skin,” Frederick Jr. told Judge Michael Chupa on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.
Chupa criticized Frederick Jr. for his actions and set his bond at $200,000.
“People should be able to reasonably disagree about politics without it resorting to violence. Using violence, whether motivated by race or politics or hatred or acrimony — I don’t care, that is not what America is about,” Chupa said.
The Hall family said that the terror began on Sept. 7, when Frederick Jr. shot six bullets into their window. Just two days after that, Frederick Jr. threw a stone through their window, painted the swastika and slashed their tires.
“I thought it was bullets. And then my husband runs outside to see if he could catch whoever was doing this,” Candace told the Associated Press.
After that instance, the family called the police.
“We haven’t had no hostilities since I’ve been in Warren, no problems with anybody. We kind of help out with each other around the neighborhood. For somebody to do what they’re doing now is unacceptable,” Eddie said at a news conference with the town's police chief.
Frederick Jr. lives with his parents nearby and was arrested on Tuesday after a confidential informant came forward, according to the town's police chief.
The 24-year-old was charged with ethnic intimidation, using a firearm during a felony, discharging a weapon at a building and malicious destruction of property among other charges.
“Clearly, they got the bad guy and the bad guy in this case was a racist terrorist. In this city, we do not tolerate any type of crime, but particularly racist terrorism. Make no mistake about it, this was a racist terrorist,” Warren Mayor James Fouts said Wednesday.